The Mask of Merlin
by gaia-of-earth
Summary: Second Year-Darien and company begins their new year at Hogwarts, whereas the Death Eaters are becoming a bigger threat, being lead by an unknown Dark Lord, and there are new visions of a dark past that scares Darien worst than before.
1. Prologue

**Title: The Mask of Merlin  
Author: gaia-of-earth  
Rated: T  
Genre: Adventure/Mystery**

**Short Summary:  
**Second Year-Darien and company begins their new year at Hogwarts, whereas the Death Eaters are becoming a bigger threat, being lead by an unknown Dark Lord, and there are new visions of a dark past that scares Darien worst than before.

**Author's notes: Hello, everyone. The second part of Darien's Hogwarts Adventure begins now. This is based on his second year and a lot of things will be happening this year. There will be a lot of adventures and Darien will make new friends and enemies. As for now, like the last story, it begins in Darien's dream. **

**Read and Review.**

* * *

**~Prologue~**

* * *

If there was one thing that he wanted to know the most, it was why in the world every time he went to sleep, he always ended up having the weirdest dreams? It as kind of annoying, now that he thought about it. But it was something he would never get used to.

In this dream, he was in ancient forest, the scenery was almost blue. Everything was blue. The trees of the forest even seemed to be a light blue. Even the sun in the sky and it wasn't that bright. A thin blue mist even rolled around his ankles. This forest, the one he was in, there was something about it. Something almost mythical. And even more stranger, there was a stone cabin close by, carved into the side of the rocky hills. It was a pleasant looking little place and it did remind him a little of the Hogwarts Grounds Keeper's little hut. The only thing was instead grayish black smoke curling out of the chimney, it was deep blue smoke and sparks of magic. This was a magical place.

"_Ah, so you've finally arrived." _

He turned his eyes away from the blue smoke and looked towards the door where there was a faceless man standing there. He was draped in deep blue robes and a silver cloak but the boy could not make out what he looked like, nor who this man even was. He couldn't even see him so clearly because of the mist all around him. However, the thing about this man was, this was not the first time the boy had seen him in his dreams.

"_I'm glad you came back for a visit. You arrived on time. I knew that you would of course." _

He tilted his head as he tried to see the man's face clearly but he couldn't. "Who are you? Where am I?" The boy said with confusion.

"_Never mind that, lad. We do not have much time for chitchat. You are about to wake up." _The man told him. _"I only have enough time to give you a fair warning. You are in grave danger this year, though you were in danger last year too. A great enemy is planning to attack you, young wolf. I will do what I can to help you this year but you be wary of your surroundings. And be careful of who you trust. For even the person who wishes you harm will be hard to find."_

The young boy just frowned as he stared at this man, almost in definite confusion. "But….who? What will happen?"

"_I cannot tell you that, my young boy. For it is your destiny to find out yourself. But I will say this, beware. The Darkness will return. And when it shall, you will be very afraid. Keep your friends close, Darien Fenrir Lupin. But your enemies closer. For your enemy may be the one to save your life." _

And then the entire area slowly grew darker and there was nothing but darkness. _"And remember, do not show your fear or sorrow." _


	2. Chapter One

**Title: The Mask of Merlin  
Author: gaia-of-earth  
Rated: T  
Genre: Adventure/Mystery**

**Short Summary:  
**Second Year-Darien and company begins their new year at Hogwarts, whereas the Death Eaters are becoming a bigger threat, being lead by an unknown Dark Lord, and there are new visions of a dark past that scares Darien worst than before.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but I do own Darien, Lionel, Rex, Sam, Leoni, Elena, and so on, so forth. **

* * *

**~Chapter One~**

* * *

His eyes slowly opened once the sunlight shone through his window onto his face. He groaned in discomfort but fought the urge to snatch his wand off his dresser and make them shut. But he knew if he did that, he would get into trouble with two different people. One, his parents and the other, the Ministry of Magic when it came to misuse of under aged magic.

" Darien!"

He groaned again at the sound of his younger brother's voice. Darien Fenrir Lupin really did not want to get into another fight with James. But as he laid there, the door to his bedroom slammed open and in walked the little devil himself. James Lupin grinned at his older brother, who glared right back at him. " Darien, guess what?"

"What, James?" Darien groaned as he sat up and placed his feet on the cool floor.

James continued to grin at him as he kept his hands folded behind his back. "You're suppose to guess, you walley. Guess what?" He repeated as he bounced on his heels.

Darien rolled his eyes as he stood up and went over to his closet to start grabbing clothes for the day. He really did not want to play this game with James. Not right now. He had been awaken from one of his unusual dreams again and he hated it when someone interrupted him from them. "James, just tell me what you want? I'm busy." He told him. James pouted a little from the lack of interest from his brother but then with a shrug he pulled out what he had hidden behind his back.

A Daily Prophet newspaper.

And on the front page was large lettered words saying, **BREAK IN AT MINISTRY!!**

Darien frowned before he went forward and took the newspaper from his younger brother, who didn't even seem to mind that his bigger brother snatched the paper from him. He just stood there watching him.

On the front page, there was a picture under the flashing headlines and in the picture it showed the Ministry of Magic. There were Aurors all over, examining the walls or broken glass. Darien didn't recognize the hall they were in at all. There was also the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt in the picture talking to none other than Harry Potter, who both looked very serious at what was being said. They didn't seem to like what their conversation was about.

So Darien began to read the newspaper.

**BREAK IN AT MINISTRY!!**

It was disturbing to hear that late Sunday evening that there had been a terrible  
break in at the Ministry of Magic. Approximately near midnight, the night watch  
of the ministry had called in that there were Death Eaters deep inside the Ministry  
of Magic's Department of Mysteries. Apparently the Death Eaters were after  
something within the Department, but the Aurors and the Minister of Magic, Kingsley  
Shacklebolt has not revealed what they are after, only that they do know what the  
object that they were trying to possess. Which, however, they were unable to get a  
hold of. So the Death Eaters had failed to get a hold of the object.

"_I'm not at liberty to discuss the situation with anyone right at this moment.  
__But when we have more information, I may." _Long time hero, Harry Potter has told us.

But I have sources say that the object the Death Eaters were after a very dark artifact  
that is in high security. Unfortunately, none of them could inform me of what the object  
is for it is a top-secret artifact and apparently a very dangerous one at that.  
For more information, turn to page…..

Darien stopped reading, with a deep frown on his face. What in the world had Death Eaters been doing in the Ministry of Magic and what were they after? There was only one dark artifact that he knew about that would be under high security. And that was the statue of Caligo Umbra. But there was no way that one of the Death Eaters knew it was there. No way. It hadn't been mentioned to anyone but the Order of the Phoenix and Darien because they believed that he should know.

A year ago, when Darien first entered the famous Hogwarts, School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, he hadn't known that his first year was going to be the beginning of the greatest adventure, and horror, of his life. Throughout the entire year, it had been strange for him. He had discovered that he had an ancient power that had not been used for almost a thousand years. With this power, he could see and speak to spirits that no one else could see. Not to mention, speak to lost souls taken by Dementors. Because of this power, he was able to see the spirit of an unseen ghost who had been wandering the halls of Hogwarts since his death.

Salazar Slytherin.

Darien had been the only person to see and speak to Salazar Slytherin throughout the entire year, and during that time, he also had to spend the entire year looking over his shoulder with fear because of a dangerous darkness demon by the name of Caligo Umbra. From what Darien had learned, the demon had been the one who corrupted Slytherin into turning his back onto his best friends, Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff, as well as his lover, Rowena Ravenclaw. They had lost their respect for one another, as well as their friendship for a thousand years until last year. When Darien finally decided to bring the houses back together and the four ghosts wandering the halls without seeing one another or remembering each other was finally reunited.

Even worst though, it had been Caligo Umbra who wanted to use Darien, to steal his powers of the unknown ability to Mindwalk and to unlock the Hellgates to free the Dark Lords of Old.

Luckily, all four houses of Hogwarts stood together as one and forced the Dark Lords back into Hell where they belonged. And to the last battle with the Umbra demon, it had been Hermione Jane Granger-Lupin who saved her son's life and the four founders to lock the evil demon into his own stone, for he had transformed into a gargoyle. Now, the demon was trapped forever in stone, and locked deep within the Ministry of Magic, whereas Shacklebolt was the only one that had access to it.

But now, there was news of someone trying to break into the Ministry of Magic. Why though? What were the Death Eaters after?

Darien would have kept thinking on it if it hadn't been for James shoving another piece of paper under his nose. Annoyed, the older Lupin child shoved it right away from him. "James! What's the big idea?!"

"Check this out, Darien!" James said with a smirk.

Darien frowned but looked at the envelope James was still waving under his nose. He ended up having to just snatch it right out of his brother's hand to actually see it. And once he did, his eyes widened in horror.

"NO!!!"

Both Hermione and Remus Lupin, who had been downstairs drinking coffee, looked up at the ceiling with a frown. They could hear their son yelling all the way from the first floor of their home. They wondered what was making Darien cry out like that. But the youngest, Peter Lupin giggled as he went back to his oatmeal. "James showed Darien his letter."

"Oh, I don't see what the big fuss is about." Hermione scowled as she poured herself some more coffee. "Darien knew that James was going to get it this year anyway. For crying out loud, you would think that he'd be happy to have James go to Hogwarts with him."

Remus just chuckled into his coffee as he shook his head. He knew for a fact that it was because they were siblings. Brothers, for goodness' sakes. He remembered when his younger brother, Romulus went with him to Hogwarts. They didn't get along very well. But then during his fourth year, and Rom's third year, the younger Lupin brother was killed in an accident. Though, no one could actually be sure that it was an accident. All that they knew was his body had been found in the Gryffindor Common room and he was dead. The death was in deep a mystery and reported as a suicide. It had devastated Remus, but he had slowly gotten over his brother's death, thanks to his best friends, James Potter, who was dead, Sirius Black, who was alive and Peter Pettigrew, who was also dead. Thanks to them, Remus got over his brother's death.

"It's a brother thing, Swift. They'll probably try to get on each other's nerves this year." Remus said with a chuckle.

Hermione only shook her head as she went back to enjoying her coffee. She still didn't see what the fuss was about. But then again, she didn't have a brother to annoy her. So she went quiet.

Moments later, Darien came down from his room, almost fuming as he sat down in his chair. And there came a beaming James following. He was waving his Hogwarts letter around, grinning as he sank into his chair next to Peter's. "Hey, Dad! When can we go get my wand from Diagon Alley? I want to be able to have mine so Darien won't be the only one who has one." He shot his older brother a look as if saying, 'You can't threaten to jinx me anymore if I have my own wand'.

But as if Hermione read his mind, she shook her head. "Not today, James. We're doing a few things today and your father has to go to work." She told him. James whined and Darien snickered into his morning oatmeal his mother set on the table for him.

Just then, before anyone could say anything, there were a few light cracks on the front door porch, telling the family that someone had just Apparated to their home. A second later, that someone knocked on the door. The door, of course, opened to let in whoever it was, which happened to be Harry and Ron.

And the looks on their faces told Darien that something very serious had just happened.

"Remus, Hermione," Harry spoke rather hurriedly. He paused to glance around at the three boys.

Both Remus and Hermione stood up, both frowning. They knew that something was wrong. They could see it in the two Aurors' eyes that something had gone terribly wrong. Or very well near it. "Harry, Ron, what is it?" Hermione asked, just as serious they were.

Harry glanced back at Darien before shaking his head and motioned for them to follow them into the next room. "We need to talk to you right now. Alone. Something serious has happened and we think you should know about it." He told them. He even pointed a look at Darin as if telling him to not try to listen. But as soon as the four adults left the room, Darien was scurrying after them, along with James and Peter. They quickly went over to the study where they could hear Harry frantically telling Remus and Hermione about something. The door was closed by a fraction but it was open enough for the three boys to take a peep in.

Inside the room, they could see Harry pacing in front of their parents, his face somewhat pale, and so was Ron's. They looked rather worn out but also very worried about something. "…..know that there's been a break in at the Ministry, right?" Harry was asking. Both Remus and Hermione nodded, still looking serious. Of course they had seen the newspaper and had seen the headlines. But what did that have to deal with anything?

"Yes, Harry. We saw it. The reports were that no one was sure what the Death Eaters were after. But surely you know." The werewolf asked.

Harry and Ron both raised their eyebrows and their eyes widened as if trying to enlighten the two Lupins. "Oh, we know what they were after. The chamber the Death Eaters were located in was deep down under Kingsley's office. And there's only one way into that chamber. And that's IN his office." Ron told them. "And you know what's hidden under Kingsley's office, don't you?"

Remus and Hermione both looked very alarmed in deed. They immediately looked at one another with wide eyes then back at the two younger wizards. "They….the Chamber of the Minister…..did they get it?! Did they even get in there?!" Hermione gasped, her hand touching her neck.

Harry shook his head with a breath of relief. "No." He sighed sounding grateful that he was able to give them at least a little good news. "They did not touch it. The pestilence guarding the chamber stopped them from going any further. We're pretty sure that they were after it. But there are other things down there that they could have been after as well." He told them.

"Like what?" Hermione asked curiously.

Both Aurors shook their heads as they gave their friend an apologetic look. "We can't tell you, 'Mione. It's top secret. You only know about that statue because it deals with Darien. The others you're not suppose to know about." Ron said with a guilty shrug.

From the door, Darien's eyes widened to even hear that. He caught on very quick to what they had meant. There was only one dark object that dealt with him that was being guarded by Kingsley Shacklebolt. "The Umbra…." He heard himself sigh under his breath.

Unfortunately, Remus heard.

The older Werewolf Lupin tilted his head towards the door and he sighed as he dropped his arm from around Hermione. With a shake of his head, he turned around and looked directly at the door. He saw his three boys cringe back quickly but they knew they had been spotted. "Boys." He said sounding only a little disappointed. Hermione, Harry and Ron looked towards the doors, looking surprised to see them there but then they frowned. The door slowly slid open and Darien walked into the room with James and Peter, both frowning with confusion. They weren't sure what was going on. Sure, they had heard a little about the Umbra demon but not much. They did not know entirely what had happened in Darien's first year.

"……It was the Umbra they were after, wasn't it?" Darien asked, sounding strained. "They were after Caligo Umbra's statue. Why did they want it?"

Harry and Ron glanced at one another before they shook their heads and looked back at him. The black haired Auror stepped closer until he placed his hand onto the boy's shoulder. " Darien, we're not entirely sure if it was the Umbra the Death Eaters were after. And even if they did get it, they wouldn't be able to break the spell its under. The Four Founders made sure that spell was very strong and you know that they don't do anything by the half. The Death Eaters may be strong but there's no way they can break four very powerful magic folk's spells." He tried to reassure Darien.

Slowly, Darien nodded before he started to turn away. However, Harry held him back, making him frown and looked back at him. Ron knew the look on Harry's face so he shook his head. "That's not the half of it. One of the Death Eaters that was spotted in the Ministry," he paused. "It was Taurine Whitman."

That bit of news to Darien was more like a punch to the gut. His breath was immediately caught in his lungs and he couldn't breath. He knew that name way too well.

"Taurine Whitman?" Remus asked seriously. "So, he is still alive."

Harry slowly nodded as he let go of Darien to face his two friends from his school year. He knew this was going to be a little hard on Darien. "Yes. We believe he has heard about the Umbra through his son, Ian, but we're not too sure. Neville and Draco went to question the boy, himself if he had admitted it." He shook his head. "We're still looking for a feedback. All we know was Ian wasn't exactly too cooperative while his guardian was. She told Draco that Taurine Whitman had not in contact with them for some time. Not since Ian was very small. So whatever that boy has said about him being close to his father, it's not true."

Darien could have smugly smiled at that. So his archrival, Ian Whitman had lied about his father teaching him the Dark Arts. However, the look his father gave him immediately told him to not even smile about the situation. So he just kept himself from smiling.

"Well, either way, we will have Taurine Whitman by the end of the year. Like I said," Harry told everyone. "He's running out of places to hide." He glanced at Ron, who nodded in agreement. They knew it was true. There wasn't very many places to hide now. They almost had every Death Eater in Azkaban now. There were only a collected few that they didn't have.

Hermione sighed as she shook her head and looked at her three boys. She could see how pale Darien had gotten because of the whole ordeal. As for James and Peter, because their brother was looking nervous, they were. So they definitely needed a distraction. "Boys, go get dressed. We're going to Diagon Alley." She told them. All three looked up at her with surprise, as well as her husband and best friends. But then Remus smiled as if he understood and waved the boys away. "You heard your mother. We're going to go get your school supplies today."

James looked very excited to even hear that. He literately jumped into the air with excitement and waved his hands above his head. "YES!!" he exclaimed before he bolted out of the room.

Darien just rolled his eyes as he steered the youngest Lupin to follow. "Now you did it, mum and dad. Please don't tell me he's going to be like this all morning long." He muttered before leaving the room. Both Hermione and Remus just smiled and shook their heads before looking at their smiling friends.


	3. Chapter Two

**Title: The Mask of Merlin  
Author: gaia-of-earth  
Rated: T  
Genre: Adventure/Mystery**

**Short Summary:  
**Second Year-Darien and company begins their new year at Hogwarts, whereas the Death Eaters are becoming a bigger threat, being lead by an unknown Dark Lord, and there are new visions of a dark past that scares Darien worst than before.

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, but I do own Darien, Lionel, Rex, Sam, Leoni, Elena, and so on, so forth. **

* * *

**~Chapter Two~**

* * *

The day to return to Hogwarts came very soon, though Darien was ready to start killing his younger brother, James. Ever since the day they went to Diagon Alley to get their supplies, James had been driving the 2nd year Hogwarts student nuts with his bragging about how he now had a wand and how he was going to Hogwarts just like he did. He wouldn't shut up about how better of a wizard he was going to be than Darien. Hermione found it cute, Remus only chuckled, Peter was always laughing and Darien glared daggers at James, wanting to jump over the table to throttle the brat.

It was true that James did have a good wand. It was a 12 ½ inches long Kingwood wand. From what was said about it, it was made of a rich and regal exotic rose wood and was treasured for its strength and protective properties. The wand maker also stated that it had excellent healing powers tied with willpower. It was one of the best wands when it came to luck magic and very strong curses. Inside it held a single hair of a Thestral. James was very proud of his wand, particularly because Mr. Ollivander had said that it possessed great limits of luck and curses. He kept on bragging to Darien until his older brother was on the verge of using his Mindwalking abilities on him. However, Hermione always caught him before doing it. Before the last year when Darien was going home with his parents, both Hermione and Remus had told Darien to not tell James and Peter about his abilities or about his new werewolf traits. It was mostly for safety reasons. They didn't want to let the younger boys know just yet.

Not many people outside of Hogwarts, not even their own family knew what had almost happened to Darien. The magical world did know a little about the happenings at Hogwarts the last year. There was no way the Ministry of Magic could cover that up. The students were only too happy to go home and tell their families that the Four Great Founders of Hogwarts had returned to the castle as spirits. Everyone was excited about it. It had been all over the Daily Prophet and quite a few news reporters had flocked to Hogwarts to try and interview the Founders. It didn't really work very well because the Four Founders either kept out of sight or Salazar Slytherin scared the reporters off by just glaring at them. He still had the knack of scaring people. So the Daily Prophet didn't get very many stories about the Return of the Hogwarts Founders.

The Lupin Family had finally gone to Kings Cross to see Darien and James off as they began their journey to Hogwarts. Though Darien was awfully close to strangling his younger brother and they weren't even at Hogwarts yet. He was trying very hard to keep his cool.

As the family passed through the gateway onto the platform and made their way towards the baggage cart, Darien was trying to look around to see if he could see his friends. He hadn't seen any of them just yet. He had caught a glimpse of some from his year though. He saw his old room mate, Paul Henderson. He was pretty happy to see him again this year. But as Darien was helping his father and James put their trunks in the baggage cart, someone roughly pushed past him, making him lose his grip on his heavy trunk, which came crashing down on his foot.

"Yeeeeowww!!" Darien yelped as he yanked his foot out from underneath the trunk and began jumping up and down in pain. His parents spun around with surprise to see what happened and James was sniggering.

"Watch what you're doing, butterfingers." came that snide remark.

Gritting his teeth, Darien turned around to see the one boy he was not looking forward to seeing again. His multicolored eyes landed on the blonde haired second year Slytherin, Ian Whitman, who was flanked by his two goons, Russell and Parkinson. All three sneered at the young Gryffindor, who glared at them. "Looks to me, Lupin, you're still a klutz as ever." Whitman sneered before he and his pals walked off laughing. The Lupin Family all glared after the three boys, even James. He wasn't amused anymore on the way that Whitman had been talking to his older brother. It was his job to annoy Darien, not some other punk that he didn't even know.

"Oh! That Whitman kid! I can't believe how rude and arrogant he is. He's almost as bad as Draco was when he was a kid." Hermione said angrily as she watched the boy walk away.

Remus shook his head with a sigh before he looked at Darien, who was not sitting on his trunk and holding his foot. He knew it was better to not even bother with the Whitman boy. They couldn't do anything about him anyway. "Are you all right, Darien?" Remus asked with concern. Darien was trying very hard to holding a string of curses back while holding onto his foot. He seriously hated Whitman. He was so tempted of doing a Mindwalk on the snot and teach him a lesson but there were two problems with that.

One, he had promised that he would never use his Mindwalking ability outside of Hogwarts until he was older. And two, it was illegal to do it in the manner he wanted to. "I'm fine." He grumbled thinking bitter thoughts about Whitman.

"OWWWWW!! Let go of my damn ear!!" Someone yelled, making several on the platform jump or spin around.

The Lupin family jerked around with surprise only to see Ian Whitman being dragged towards them by a pretty young woman, who actually had a tight hold on his ear. Behind him, both Russell and Parkinson looked alarmed but unsure of what to do. They just watched as the woman dragged Whitman right towards Darien and his family. The woman, herself, resembled Whitman in a way.

She had gorgeous, long blond hair that she actually had pulled back into a pony tail and the brightest, yet strangest eyes any of the Lupins had ever seen. Her eyes were so blue that they almost looked purple when the light was shining in them at an angle. She was wearing black dress slacks and a silky lavender blouse under a fine black cloak. She had such a pretty face, and she couldn't more than 25 years old. At the moment, she looked rather angry as she dragged Whitman over to Darien's family by his ear.

"OWWWW! Lemme go, Ivy!!" Whitman roared.

"Shut it, brat!" snapped the woman right back as she waltzed right up to the Lupin family, not even caring that she was making a scene with the boy. Instead, she glared right at Whitman as she made him step closer to Darien. "Now, Ian, you better apologize to this boy right now, or I swear, I'll rip your ear right off your bloody head!"

The Lupins, like many of the other people, stared at the woman with alarm and shock while Ian Whitman was trying very hard to pull his ear free from her. But she seemed to have a very tight hold on him. Hermione touched her lips with her fingers as she looked at her with concern. "Uh...excuse me..."

The woman turned to face her, her face softening a little as she looked elsewhere. "Hullo there. I'm sorry for this ghastly scene that I'm making you go through. But I must say, it is necessary." She shot Whitman a look. "My younger brother was about to apologize to your son for his behavior. Aren't you, Ian?!" She asked darkly. That surprised everyone else. Especially Darien. He had been very unaware that Ian Whitman even had a sister. Either way, he did find this pretty funny and would be laughing if he knew that he wouldn't get a dark look from his mother for it.

Ian Whitman, however, grabbed his sister's wrist, trying to make her to let go, but she only tightened her hold. "Ow! No! Why should...ow!!" He howled.

"Ian Josiah Whitman!! I swear I'll do it and you know I will!! If you don't apologize to this boy right now, I will rip your ear from your head!" The woman yelled at her younger brother.

Ian Whitman yelped again before he looked wide eyed at his school enemy. "Ow, ow, ow!! All right! All right! I'm sorry, Lupin! I'm sorry for making you drop your trunk on your blooming foot! Now are you happy, you witch?! Let go of my ear now!!"

With only a little satisfaction, Ian's sister nodded before letting go, but before he could run off, she grabbed the scruff of his shirt and held him in place, still glaring at him. Ian Whitman only occupied himself to rubbing his ear, not bothering to trying to pull away. His sister, however, looked back at the Lupins. "I am so sorry for this little runt's behavior towards your son. He's just a spoiled prat who thinks he can get his own way just because our father isn't around. Though, in my opinion, we are so much better off with that arse!" She said before she faintly smiled. "Oh, I didn't introduce myself, did I? Hullo. I'm Ivy Jade Whitman. I'm Ian's older sister and guardian."

Both Remus and Hermione offered a smile to her as they nodded to her. "Hello, Ivy. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Remus Lupin and this is my wife, Hermione." The oldest Lupin said before motioning to their three boys. "These are our sons. Our oldest is Darien. He'll be a Second year this year at Hogwarts. James is just starting Hogwarts this year. And our youngest, Peter."

Ivy only nodded to each, her eyes pausing on Darien before smiling at Remus and Hermione. "It's a great pleasure to meeting you, Ms. Hermione. I've read your books. Very impressive, I must say." Her eyes returned to Darien. "Of course, I heard a great deal about Young Darien Lupin. Ian's always complaining about how Darien Fenrir Lupin is such a goody goody and he's always getting to do whatever he wants." She rolled her eyes. "I actually think this Darien sounds like a complete gentleman." She said now smiling at Darien, who was blushing hot red.

Both Hermione and Remus laughed as they saw the look on their oldest son's face. They found this rather amusing. He was staring at Ivy as if he was already starting to like her. It was no doubt he was going to end up having a crush on her later on. Hermione just smiled at Ivy giving a nod of satisfaction. "Thank you very much, Miss Whitman. We really appreciate your help." She told her.

Ivy just smiled before looking away when the conductor began calling for the students to get on the train. "Oh. Well, we better get going then. I still need to talk to Mr. Snot here." She shot glaring at her younger brother, who just sulked. Then she looked back at the Lupins, giving them a nod. "It was nice to meet you. And I'm sure we're going to meet again." She told them before she dragged her brother off, scolding him while he began arguing with her.

"What a charming little lady." Remus said, looking at his wife.

Hermione just nodded softly before looking at Darien and James with a smile. She was still amusing herself with the look on Darien's face but she knew it was better not to tease him about it. So she placed her hands on each of their shoulders. "Darien, James, I'm so proud of you both." She smiled even more when the brothers looked at one another, making faces. "All right, you two. I know you're not exactly thrilled to be going to Hogwarts together, but you both need to look after one another. Darien, help your younger brother. And do not look at me like that." She warned, when Darien groaned and gave her a look as if asking, _"Do I have to?"_ Instead, she looked at James. "James, don't annoy your brother. He knows more spells than you do. And he's not afraid to use them." She told him. Darien grinned mischievously at James, who glowered. But the 2nd year Gryffindor stopped when his mother tapped him on the head. She gave him a look but then her face softened. "All right. You need to get on the train now. You two look after one another and try and get along." She told them as she kissed both of their foreheads and gave them a hug, much to their protests.

Then Remus looked down at his two oldest boys, a very fond look on his face. "You two be careful. Especially you, Darien. You get into too much trouble as it is." He said, in a teasing tone. Darien just smiled while James rolled his eyes. He didn't believe it for a second that Darien ever got into trouble. "Anyway, I do hope you have fun and you learn a lot this year. Go make your mother and I proud." He told them.

Darien just nodded as he hugged his parents then patted Peter on the head, who was pouting a little. "Hey, Pete. What's wrong?" He asked, tilting his head. Peter just sniffed before shrugging. "I'm going to miss you, Dari. You and Jamie. Now that you guys are going to Hogwarts, I'm going to be alone. Who am I suppose to play with?" He asked, sadly.

"Awww, don't cry, Peter." James piped up throwing an arm around his younger brother. "You'll get to play with Uncle Harry's and Aunt Ginny's kids when they come over. And I'm sure that Uncle Ron's going to bring over Wes too!"

Peter just lowered his head as he kept his eyes down. He still didn't look very happy, even though he would have a few playmates. "But……I like playing with you, Jamie and Dari." He told him. Darien just smiled as he brought his youngest brother into a hug. Then he lift him up into his arms, looking at Peter in the eyes. "Hey, Peter. We'll come home for the Holidays. And when we do, we'll bring you presents. Okay?" He asked. This did cheer Peter up a little. His face brightened a little as he looked from Darien to James, who just nodded in agreement. Both Remus and Hermione just smiled as they watched their three sons before they heard the conductor blowing a whistle again. "Oh! Darien, James! Hurry and get on the train!" Their mother demanded. Darien quickly put Peter down before he and James hurried and jumped up onto the train, waving at their parents. "Bye, mum and dad! Bye, Peter!" Both of them said before they disappeared inside.

Together, Darien and James walked down the corridors to find a compartment to sit in. Neither one was particularly happy to be sitting with each other, but none of them complained either. They finally found an empty compartment in the farthest of the train car and sat down to wait for Darien's friends. Darien was sure that Lionel, Rex, Sam and Leoni would be around soon.

As they waited in silence, looking out the window, someone pushed the door open, catching their attention. Both brothers looked up only to see a girl with long black hair and dark eyes. She was wearing all black, as if someone had died or she was mourning about something, but it suited her rather well. She looked surprised to see them but relieved. There was something awfully familiar about her though. It was like they had met her before but they weren't sure from where. "Oh!" The girl said before smiling faintly at them. "Hello there. May I sit with you? Everywhere is pretty full."

Darien and James glanced at one another before nodding at the girl. "Sure." They both said at the same time.

Smiling, the girl stepped into the compartment and sank down on the bench next to Darien. They were quiet for a few moments before the girl smiled at both of them. "Oh, well. I suppose I can introduce myself to you." She held out her hand to Darien first. "Hello there. I'm Capella Elenanor Black. But just call me Elena. I'm a 3rd year Slytherin at Hogwarts." She told them, though she didn't seem to be a Slytherin.

Frowning for a second at what house she was in, Darien decided to be polite. "Hey. I'm Darien Fenrir Lupin. 2nd year Gryffindor. That's my brother, James…."

"I'll introduce myself, Darien." James said dryly as he narrowed his eyes at his older brother before grinning at Elena and stuck out his hand towards here. "Hiya! I'm James Jonathon Lupin! Unfortunately, that's my older brother but I'm the cooler one." He told her grinning.

Darien shot James a look but didn't say anything. Elena just laughed softly as she shook both of their hands. She seemed very amused by what they said. "Nice to meet you, Darien. J.J. You don't mind if I call you J.J, do you?" She asked, looking at James. James just grinned and shook his head. He looked rather thrilled to already have a nickname and he hadn't even started at Hogwarts yet.

Darien then frowned as something hit him but then he turned to Elena. "Wait, you said you're a 3rd year Slytherin, right? I don't remember seeing you last year though."

"Well, technically," Elena began carefully. "This is my first year at Hogwarts. I'm actually a student from Durmstrung. I transferred over to Hogwarts because my mum died during the summer break. And the only family I have left is here in London."

Hearing that her mum died, Darien and James were no longer smiling. They looked rather sorry, actually. Looking away, the older Lupin brother sighed. "Oh. I'm sorry." He told him. James nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Sorry my brother's a pain in the arse for even mentioning it." He said, getting a very dark look from Darien.

Elena just shook her head as she held up a hand as if to stop them from fighting already. She looked a little uncomfortable with the sibling squabble but didn't seem to mind either way. "Oh, don't worry. I'm over it now." She paused. "Sort of. I'm actually living with my uncle. I've never actually met him before but I've heard about him from my dad." She told them.

Again, Darien paused in thought. Now that he remembered it, she had said that her last name was Black. "Wait a tick." He looked at her with suspicion. "Who is your uncle?" He asked, frowning.

"Hmm? Oh! His name is Si……."

Just then the door slid open and someone jumped into the room, slamming their self down beside James, looking rather moody. It was Lionel, followed by the rest of Darien's friends. "Hey, Darien! It's about time we found you! Did you really have to pick the farthest compartment from the door?" The blonde asked moodily. Beside him sat Rex while Leoni and Sam sat down beside Elena, looking rather interested by her presence.

Darien frowned at Lionel's mood but looked to his twin sister for the answer instead. "Hey, what's wrong with Lionel? Why are you all so gloomy?" He paused when she saw that Rex looked the worst out of everyone. His face was rather pale and there were dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't been sleeping too well. And judging by how red his eyes were, he must have been crying recently. "Rex! Have you been crying?" He asked with concern. Rex didn't reply. He just looked away, rather forlorn or embarrassed that someone noticed his eyes. "Rex?" Darien tried again.

Lionel sighed as he folded his arms over his stomach before shaking his head. "Darien, let's just say something happened over the summer break. Leoni, Sam and I just found out today when we found Whitman bullying him." He said, his voice rather gloomy.

Darien frowned but turned his eyes onto Rex, looking concerned. He wanted to know what was wrong with his small best friend. And judging by the look in his eyes, it was something pretty bad. Because Rex was refusing to look at him. "Rex? What happened?" Darien asked again.

There was a pause before Rex turned his face away and closed his eyes, which squeezed out a tear from the corner. He didn't even reach up to brush it away. This only concerned Darien even more. "S-Sam……can…." The small Gryffindor murmured but not being able to finish.

Sam just nodded before she looked at Darien, rather seriously. She was trying to think of how to tell Darien this without making Rex breaking down than he already had. But then she sighed and shook her head. "Darien," She began slowly. "Rex's uncle, his only family left, was murdered by Death Eaters this summer. And just try to guess who it was." She told him, sounding very bitter.

Darien felt as if his insides had just been ripped out of his body or if someone had just punched him nearly ten times in the chest. His mind was frozen on the fact that Rex's uncle was dead. Everyone in the compartment went completely quiet. Even James. They all just stared at Rex, who turned so far away that his face was practically hiding in the corner. But it was clear that he was about to break down. His shoulders were shaking a little and he tried very hard not to look at the others.

After a long while, Darien stood up and switched sides with Lionel so he could sit next to Rex, who slightly turned back. "Rex?" He began before sighing. "Rex, that true?" He asked quietly.

"…..Yes." Rex murmured, finally turning to Darien while wiping his eyes. He looked teary eyed up at his best friend before lowering his head again, a little embarrassed for showing his emotions like this. He reached up and tried to wipe more tears away before turning his head away. "It was Taurine Whitman. He…..somehow, he found out about me and came looking for me to finish off what he started when…..you know? H-he and a bunch of Death Eaters showed up at my uncle's place. My uncle, Vincent tried to protect me even if he wasn't a wizard." He said in a low voice. "If…..if it weren't for a few Aurors showing up….." He didn't finish. He just shuddered at the thought of what could have happened.

Darien gritted his teeth tightly at hearing this and balled up his fists tightly. He felt hate for Whitman's father just boiling inside him. He remembered Rex had told him that Taurine Whitman had killed his parents. And now, he had killed his uncle. His only living relative. Now Rex was completely alone. And what was worst, no one had even thought about telling him about this. "When, Rex?" He asked, surprising himself of how calm he was. "When was this?"

There was a long pause before Rex shook his head as he thought about it. "Two weeks ago. I've been staying at Frank and Alice Longbottom's house for the rest of the summer. But after this, I don't know. Professor Dumbledore has been to visit me a few times. He's been pretty concerned about me." He told his friend.

"No one even told me about this!" Darien found himself snarl in anger.

No one flinched or cringed away from him. None of them could blame him for being angry. He had been Rex's first friend when they started Hogwarts and he thought of him as a little brother. Everyone did. Rex was almost everyone's special person in the Gryffindor House. It was mostly because he was so small. "No one knew about it, Darien. The Ministry of Magic didn't want it out. They're still investigating it and trying to hunt down the Death Eaters involved." Leoni stated. "There's been Aurors have been all over trying to find them. I heard that they've been bugging the Whitman family about Taurine Whitman. Even Harry Potter has been questioning them."

Darien frowned when he heard that but then felt a little angrier. He had just seen Harry the day before. But had never said a word to him. He hadn't even told Darien that Rex's family had been attacked. He would have to talk to Harry when he got the chance, to find out why he didn't tell him. 'Why, Harry?! Why didn't you say anything?' he thought to himself.

Just then the door slid open to reveal, surprise, surprise, Whitman, Russell and Parkinson stepping through and looking around the compartment at the Gryffindors and the Slytherin, though they didn't know that Elena was Slytherin.

All of the Gryffindors immediately started to glare at the three. "Oh! Lookie! It's the Goody-Goody Gryffindors!" Whitman sneered as he looked around at all of them. His eyes stopped on Rex, who was glaring hatefully up at him with teary eyes. "Oh! And look, boys! It's the Crying Midget. Hey, small stuff! How's your uncle? Oh, that's right. He's dead."

Without any warning at all, Rex was on his feet lunging at Whitman with his fist cocked back. He wanted so much to hurt the pale blonde haired boy for his words. He wasn't the only one who jumped to his feet. Even Lionel was up and so was Darien. But before any one of them could touch Whitman, someone beat them to it. There was a sharp sound of skin hitting skin, making everyone freeze and stare wide eyed at Elena as she stood right in front of Whitman, whose left side face had a perfect hand mark. There was such a murderous look in her darkening blue eyes and it was kind of scary. She looked like she was about to kill Whitman right there and now.

"Wh-what?! How dare you even touch me!" Whitman exclaimed with his hand over his face.

Elena just glared harder at him as she placed her hand on her waist. "Get out before I do worst, you son of a murderer! If I so much as see you near this boy again," She paused to point at a startled Rex. "I will curse warts all over your face that it will take a year to remove them!" She snapped.

Whitman glared at her as she glared right back at him. He was obviously not even used to anyone even snapping at him like this. "Who do you think you are?! Telling me what to do!! I should tell my father about this! He's a Death Eater! When he finds out about this, he will come and kill you…..!" he was yelling but shut up when he found the tip of Elena's black wand right under his nose.

Elena had whipped it out so fast that it seemed impossible that she had. She was smirking coldly, that it was no doubt she was a Slytherin now. Darien could definitely see a lot of power behind her eyes. "So is my father, Whitman. But unlike your father, Taurine Whitman, mine was taught directly by Voldemort, himself." She said acidly. Everyone in the compartment froze when they heard her say that. The Gryffindors looked at one another as if they were going to asking each other if that was true. But none of them could answer. Was it true? Was Elena's…was her father really a Death Eater?

"….no….you're lying!" Whitman stammered, his face slightly pale.

Elena just smirked darkly at him before tilting her head to the side. She had a dark innocent look about her. "Oh am I? Why would I lie to you, Whitman? Do you really want to wager on it that my father is actually a Death Eater or now? Do you want to see what my father has taught me?" She asked, dangerously, waving her wand a little.

Obviously, Whitman didn't want to because he slid against the wall away from her before bolting down the corridor with his two friends after him.

Then once again, Elena was looking innocent and cheerful again as she waved after them. "Thank you for coming! Come again!" She said in a singsong before closing the door and sat back down as if nothing had ever happened. Everyone in the compartment just looked at her with wide eyes and fallen jaws. She looked innocently around at everyone before her eyes flashed and she offered Sam her hand. "Oh! That's right! I didn't introduce myself to you yet. Hi! I'm Capella Elenanor Black!" She said brightly, before she rolled her eyes. "But, please! Call me Elena. I hate my first name. It's so weird! Even if my dad's the one who named me. Bless his heart."

Sam mindlessly took her hand and shook it before she blinked out of her stunned thoughts. "Oh. Samara Grogen. Everyone calls me Sam." She said forcing a smile. Lionel nodded as he opened his mouth to say something and she shot him a dark look. "Seven days, Lionel! I mean it! If you say anything about The Ring, I will kill you in seven days!" She warned. He shut his mouth and everyone laughed.

"My name is Leoni Boyd. That idiot's my twin brother, Lionel." Leoni said now shaking Elena's hand.

Elena nodded before turning to Rex, who timidly took her hand and shook it. "Rex Rory Kegerreis." He murmured. She only gave him a sympathetic look. Lionel just grinned at her before shaking her hand. "Hey…..hi. Um…that back there….that was kind of….." He was saying. Elena only laughed and shook her head as she folded her hands together on her lap. "Freaky, I know. Forgive me, will you? I'm afraid I have a nasty temper problem. Some people think I'm bipolar. I sort of am but I'm usually a very nice person until someone says something I don't like." She shrugged. "Sorry for scaring you." She told them.

And for the first time in weeks, Rex laughed as he sank down on his seat and held his sides. "Are you kidding me? That was bloody brilliant! Did you see the look on Whitman's face? He looked like he was about to piss his pants!" He said cheerfully. Now, everyone started laughing and nodding in agreement. James just looked around at everyone as he brought up a knee close his body. "Yeah! That was pretty brilliant!" He said, looking at his older brother, who could not help but smile right back at him. "Especially about that fib about your dad being a Death Eater!"

Elena shook her head as she smiled at him. "Oh. That wasn't a fib. I was telling the truth. My dad really is a Death Eater. Or at least, he was a Death Eater. He quit a long time ago. About the time of the first down fall of Voldemort. He's still on the run though." She told them.

That wiped everyone's smiles off their faces as they stared wide eyed at her. Every single one looked stunned that she had said that. Everyone was quiet for a long moment before Darien frowned and tilted his head to the side. "Elena, who is your father? You're not by any chance related to Sirius Black, are you?" He asked still too surprised.

"Oh. My father's name is Regulus Black. Sirius Black is my uncle that I just moved in with." Elena said smiling.


End file.
